Hoping to get more big-molecule medicines into pill bottles, Novo Nordisk, maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, signed a partnership with Orbis Medicines ApS to craft oral therapies for heart and metabolic conditions. Orbis is a privately held Danish startup with a notable cap table that includes Eli Lilly among its stakeholders.
Turning injectable biologics into effective pills is hard because the gut treats them like lunch. Case in point: the pill version of Wegovy needs a much larger dose than the injection since the stomach breaks it down. Orbis says its approach seeks to use synthetic compounds designed to push more of the drug into the bloodstream, according to Chief Executive Officer Morten Graugaard. The company also applies AI in the design of its experimental compounds.
Before teaming up with Novo, Orbis raised €116 million ($133 million) in financing, with backers such as Forbion and Novo Holdings - Novo Nordisk's largest shareholder.
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Alongside the collaboration, Novo intends to take an investment stake in Orbis, without revealing how big it will be. The company says additional partnerships are on the way as it seeks to update its pipeline ahead of looming generics to Ozempic and Wegovy. If Orbis's delivery tech works as advertised, it could make oral versions of biologics more attainable, which would matter for patients who prefer pills over shots.
The deal's headline value depends on development and commercial milestones, so progress markers will be the tell. Also keep an eye out for the additional alliances Novo has promised as a read on how aggressively it is shoring up its next wave of medicines. For regular investors, the question is simple: if oral delivery expands access to metabolic treatments, demand could become steadier and less tied to injection logistics.
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